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Once everyone has rested and recovered from the bruhaha in the hospital, Stell checks that her weapons have full loads and checks with the locals to find out how to get to the place where Centak was attacked and where the signals to the robot originated. "Let's go!"
Along the way, she sings a fight song to get spirits up. The refrain goes
Save your tears
For the day
When the pain is far behind.
On your feet
Come with me,
We are soldiers. Stand or Die!
Save your fear
Take your place
Save them for the judgment day
Fast and Free
Follow me
Time to make the sacrifice
We rise or fall!
From the alley between the choir rehearsal studio and the Weight Don’t Tell Me gym, the trail leads to an out-of-the-way juncture on the border of the vault beyond the holographic border. Here, the Joros’ community aesthetic fades, revealing a complex network of metal pipes, circuitry, and scaffolding akin to the rest of Salvation’s End.
You can see why the Joros might stay within the holographic border. This area has none of their characteristic whimsy.
A door in the wall of the vault slides open at your approach.
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"So the risk here at the hospital was less sabotage and more incompetence born of complacency," Idir replies in a grouchy tone. "Two things I absolutely can't stand at the best of times. Whatever circumstances set this vault's state of affairs in motion can't be allowed to continue."
When they arrive at the door, Idir's eyestalks narrow and begin darting around in different directions while his head remains still in a stern grimace. He seemed less scared about the possibility of combat than he usually was. A dromada on a mission.
The party takes a few steps forward. Behind them the door closes and they hear several clicks, like bolts shooting home in a lock.
A public address system blares," CHHhhnk. Welcome, Others! I wouldn't have sent my CommanJoros to fetch you if I'd known that you would deliver yourselves so conveniently to my door. Have you come seeking revenge, or glory? You won't find glorification here, but Jorofication instead!"
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Stell listens to the announcement and rolls her eyes. To her companions, she says"Sounds like a high tech version of the usual conservative dislike of diversity. Let's see if we can find the source."
Stell sets her video cam to record and sets it in place on her chest to work as a bodycam. She draws her semi-auto pistol and starts exploring.
"Let's pick a door and see where the Boojum is."
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-You know, Idir, after this hospital I think a lot about meaning of word hospitality...
Thundergun looks form over his mates into the small facility corridors. He is not willing to go inside yet.
-This sounds not as other Joros, commander-ish tones here
TG starts to Detect Magic just in case there is someting else here. His helmet beeping softly as scanning proceed.
But than TG almost jumps at one place when Kuozar opens fire...
Kuozar's shot sparks off something at the end of the hall. (Stell can make out the small drone.)
It snaps off a quick shot of bright light and disappears through the door that opens behind it. The door snaps closed, hiding the drone from view.
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Stell prepares for what is discovered behind the door that just shut.
She tells everyone to wait and takes a moment to review what her camera recorded, to see if she can spot anything she missed when it happened.
Unfortunately, at a key moment, Idir stepped in the way of the shot.
She resets the camera to record and gives the signal she is ready.
A wide panel beside the door must be the trigger to open it. Kuozar knocks it with the butt of his rifle and after a few seconds delay, the door slides aside.
Inside, a massive, complex device comprised of interconnected tubes filled with blue-green gas and numerous small computer monitors running rapidly with changing lines of code occupies the eastern wall of this room. Two pipes funnel the gas into hemispherical turbine filters with pipes connecting to the ceiling. Two large containers of a different gas flank the western doors, along with a large multi-monitor computer interface set into the northern corner.
Glass windows set into pairs of sliding doors to the north and south reveal separate chambers with cylindrical pods and drainage grates in the floors.
personality into a finished clone.
There's no sign of the drone.
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"Whooa! I wonder if this may be where they make the Joros." Stell begins to look at the computer monitors and the machinery. "I did a term paper on cloning back at the university. I think I can figure this out with a little time."
"I think the cloning may be done elsewhere, but here the task is to implant the Joro personality. There may be cloned individuals in those spherical chambers off in these side rooms."
"I think the computer code is similar to Azlanti trinary, but with a lot of linear feedback lines of code. Thundergun, Kuozar, computers are your thing. Can you figure out more?"
Stell looks around the ceiling and walls for anything like monitoring devices.
Stell leans casually on the eastern control panel while making her request. She hears a click, and is just turning to see what it is when a spray of needle-like droplets erupts from the panel. The spray crosses the aisle to clatter and ping against the gas tank opposite.
She was lucky and had just turned enough to avoid being hit.
A quick examination reveals a small articulated nozzle hidden amongst the piping, cabling, and tubing above the control console.
Type technological; Perception DC 24; Disable Engineering DC 19 (jam injection mechanism)
Trigger touch; Reset manual (Engineering DC 19) Effect dart +13 ranged (6d6 P plus Joro morphogen; critical
injection DC +2 DC Save DC 14
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"You've found the clone-prone zone. I"ll bet you think you're so clever, evading my little trap. I'll get you my pretties, and your four-footed friend too."
Stell notices cameras under some wall-mounted lights.
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Idir jumps as Stell narrowly avoids the all-too-expected booby trap.
"We should probably try to gum that up so we don't trip it again."
When the mastermind taunts them, Idir glares and looks up.
"You sound like a two-cred trivid villain!" he yells into the air.
He reads over Thundergun's shoulder (no easy task considering the izalguun's sheer stature) and gives a concerned "hrrm..." at what they find.
"It seems our hypothesis was correct: there were meant to be many more diverse clones in this vault and somehow the Joro template got put on loop and they became the overwhelming majority of the vault's population. The only question left is whether this was an accident our apparent Master
Joro stumbled on and took advantage of or if it was deliberate sabotage to create a Joro monoculture."
Kuozar blasts a camera/light fixture.
"Ah! You've spotted my obscure cameras! And now you want to leave me in a dark room. Ha HA HA."
Needle-like spray erupts from the remaining three light fixtures! It pierces Stell and Kuozar's armor, but clatters harmlessly on Thundergun's.
Kuozar is able to blast and Thundergun able to disable the remaining injector traps.
"Ah. Two of you have felt the sting of my Joro morphogen. Let's see if you become more reasonable now."
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JORO MORPHOGEN Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 14 Track Charisma (special); Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds Effect progression track is Healthy—Weakened—Impaired— Pliable (end state)
Special Hit Point damage inflicted by Joro morphogen is nonlethal damage. If progression on the Joro morphogen track causes a Charisma-based spellcaster to lose their ability to cast 1st-level spells, they gain proficiency with all disk-shaped weapons and shields and uses their unaltered Charisma modifier instead of her Strength modifier for attack rolls with such items until they regain their ability to
cast 1st-level spells. Joros are immune to this poison
Charisma Poison Track
Healthy—Weakened—Impaired—Pliable—Catatonic—Dead
Weakened
The victim takes a –2 penalty to Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks, and the DCs of her spells and special abilities decrease by 2. If she has 1 or more levels in a spellcasting class whose key ability score is Charisma, she can’t cast her highest level of spells from that class.
Impaired
The victim takes an additional –2 penalty to the affected checks and DCs. If she has 1 or more levels in a spellcasting class whose key ability score is Charisma, she can’t cast her 2 highest levels of spells from that class.
Pliable
The victim has little sense of self and goes along with nearly any order or suggestion. Creatures attempting Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks against her automatically succeed, though Diplomacy checks to improve her attitude still have the normal DC.
Catatonic
The victim loses agency and can’t interact with anything.
Dead
The victim loses autonomic functions and dies.
Thundergun realizes that the traps must be manually reloaded. Unless there's another undetected trap in here, you should be safe.
And you owe me another save.
After further investigation, Thundergun determines that he will be able to adjust the programming, but it will take time.
The victim takes an additional –2 penalty to the affected checks and DCs.
And give me 2 more saves, please.
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Stell, having rested, is ready to push on and investigate the other parts of the complex. "First order of business is to figure out who is talking to us. I suspect it's an AI program, but let's see what we find in the next room."
Stell moves toward the door on the NE side of the room and makes the probably futile gesture of seeing if she can spot any more traps. She is open to suggestions if others want to explore elsewhere.
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While resting, she asks Thundergun, "Is there any way you can correct
the bug in the program that's causing everyone to come out of this system as an identical Joro?"
As far as we a not in a hurry! This facility has some prtoections, but some of the devices already being reached...
Thundergund contunies working with the console, checking for a floor plan, possibly camera acceess and any leads to more relevant server room. As for now the technomancer tries to repair joro -reproduction program
While Thundergun works on the computer, Stell examines the equipment to the northeast. She doesn't find anything but there's another burst of spray from behind her. Her armor protects her again.
Thundergun notices a change to one of his edits.
"I see what you're doing there! Stop it now or I'll lock the cloning system!"
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There could be doors or someone hiding behind the big cylindrical pods behind the glass doors to the north and south. Otherwise, no.